‘Ultima’ is a series of computer fantasy role-playing games popularized on the Apple II in the early 1980s. Although all of the Ultimas (8, plus several related games) have been written for PC clones, no Ultimas have been released in the last 8 years for the best personal computer, the Macintosh. I felt this was an awful shame, as I have always enjoyed playing Ultimas on my Apple II. Ultima II and Ultima III were originally released around 10 years ago for the Macintosh, but they were small-screen black & white games, and won’t even run on modern Macs. This Ultima III is a shareware re-write of Ultima III for color Macintosh computers, taking advantage of the modern Mac’s features. After reading this file, please read the “Ultima III manual” file for more information on how to play the game. Although it isn't ready at the time of this writing, a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file is being prepared to help beginning adventurers survive when thrust into this new world -- ask for it on online services and I'm sure you'll find it.
• This Program Is Shareware - $25.00
This software is freely distributable in its unregistered form. You can fully play the unregistered game, except you cannot travel to Ambrosia until you register (if you don’t know what Ambrosia is, you won’t get to it for quite a while anyway). However, you will not be able to solve the game without going to Ambrosia. You also won’t be able to raise your abilities (and therefore cast higher level spells). Registering costs $25 and you will be given a code which will instantly unlock the rest of the game. See the “Register…” command under the Apple menu to find out how to register, or see the How To Order This Game! section of this Read Me file.
• What’s In This Archive
In this archive will be the following items:
Ultima III: (folder)
Read Me First
Roster
Ultima III
Ultima Graphics
Ultima Sounds
UIII v1.2 Order Form
Ultima Documentation: (folder)
Cloth Map
Ultima III Manual
∞ Cleric Spells ∞
∞ Wizard Spells ∞
Ultima Music: (folder)
Song 1.MOD
Song 2.MOD
Song 3.MOD
Song 4.MOD
Song 5.MOD
Song 6.MOD
Song 7.MOD
Song 8.MOD
Song A.MOD
Song B.MOD
• About The Documentation
Aside from this Read Me file, there are four other important documents.
1 - Ultima III Manual. This is the “Ultima III Book of Play.” Read this next.
2 - Cloth Map. This is a QuickTime-compressed PICT file of the map of Sosaria.
Double-click it and print it out on your printer or view it on-screen.
You will need to set your Page Setup to sideways for it to print out correctly.
3 - ∞ Cleric Spells ∞. Arcane descriptions of all of the Clerical prayers.
4 - ∞ Wizard Spells ∞. Arcane descriptions of all of the Wizard’s spells.
• System Requirements for Ultima III: 1995 Macintosh version
Simply try running the program, and if it has a problem with your computer’s configuration, it will let you know what is wrong. But here’s the list of requirements and recommendations anyway:
∞ System 7.0 or newer
∞ 68020 Mac or higher
∞ 3,000K free RAM (may be less – see below)
∞ Sound Manager 3.0, required for sound effects
Recommended items:
∞ 25 MHz 68030 Mac or higher
∞ 8-bit (256) color capability
∞ 640x400 or larger display
∞ External stereo speakers, to appreciate music
∞ Speech Manager, to hear characters speak to you
∞ 32 bit RAM addressing
The amount of RAM memory Ultima III requires depends on your configuration - 3000K of free RAM is needed for full-size, 8-bit graphics with music and speech enabled, on a PowerMac. You may get away with much less RAM allocation; Ultima III will let you know if you have set it too low. Virtual Memory works fine with Ultima III, though like most games, sound/music/speech may get choppy at times.
The graphics for Ultima III were designed to be used in at least 640x400, 8-bit color. If you have lesser graphic capabilities, the same graphics are used; just smashed and/or dithered down to your resolution/color depth. Don’t expect it to be a masterpiece. Color modes other than 8-bit color have not been extensively tested — your mileage may vary. Sound Manager and Speech Manager (PlainTalk™) are free from Apple, and can be had from users groups, Apple dealers, and some on-line services. Versions of System 7 prior to version 7.1 are also free from users groups and Apple dealers. Older versions of the Mac OS may work alright with Ultima III, but have not been extensively tested given how old and obsolete pre-System 7 releases are.
• Other Notes
First, some notes about some of the Options menu items. Many of the options will slow down your computer — turn one or more off to increase game speed. Some are not self-explanatory:
“Shape Masking” allows you to see the terrain behind people and monsters, instead of just a black square. Because it can be too slow for the earlier color Macintoshes, it is optional. “Strictly QuickDraw” will keep the program from drawing the graphics directly to screen memory. For speed, however, you’ll want to keep this option turned off unless your video card throws up. You can not drag the Ultima III window off of your main screen unless you are using Strictly Quickdraw, however. Also note that you can’t turn off Strictly QuickDraw unless you are in 256 color mode. A few newer Mac configurations may actually run faster in Strictly QuickDraw. “Constrain Speed” will keep the graphics from animating too quickly on higher-end Macintoshes. It’s only an option because zipping around Sosaria on a fast Mac without speed constraints can be reeely gratifying. “Hide Desktop” will hide everything outside of the Ultima III window — very handy for people with monitors larger than 14". The menu bar also turns invisible, but it is really still there; just click there and the menus will pop down. “Sound”, “Music”, and “Speech” should be obvious. If all of the characters have the same voices, it means you don’t have a complete set of Apple’s voices — they can be found wherever Apple software can be downloaded. Sound requires Sound Manager 3.0, speech requires Speech Manager.
When launching the Ultima III application, it will assume you want to use a file named “Roster” in the same folder as the application, and it will create a new one if it can’t find one. I may allow for more flexibility than this in a future revision of Ultima III.
• Why I Did This
I ported this excellent 80’s game to the Macintosh because of my disappointment at how few good fantasy adventure/role playing games there were for the Macintosh. I (like many) am a devout Ultima fan, having played the various incarnations of the game since the game was just called “Ultima” and had no sequels. I used the Apple II version of Ultima III as my model and inspiration for the port, and because of this, people unfamiliar with older Ultima games may complain about the user interface. There are a variety of intuitive mouse controls, but some things must be done with the keyboard, such as casting spells. It just wouldn’t be Ultima III if you didn’t have to type C, W, B, <UpArrow> for your Druid to cast a Mittar spell at an Orc above him.
The main deviation from the original gameplay is the addition of a Reference pull-down menu item which allows quick reference to several tables of information that are useful while playing the game. Also, a variety of functions can be performed with the mouse, most of which should be obvious by observing how the cursor changes shape in different areas of the screen. In addition, most of the resources in the game (graphics, sounds, text, etc.) are easy to edit with ResEdit. The music is in standard MOD format, so you can put your own MODs in the Ultima Music folder (with the correct name, i.e. “Song 1.MOD”) and it will use them. Note that Ultima III is a fat binary and is 100% native on Power Macs.
Leon McNeill - LairWare
I can be contacted for tech support/fan mail/flames/bug reports at:
internet: beastie@swcp.com
or: tech@playmaker.com
(Please don’t ask me for help solving the game! There are plenty of other folks on the Ultima Superhighway who would be glad to help you out. Look for the Ultima III FAQ.)
• How To Order This Game!
PlayMaker, Inc. is handling all Ultima III shareware registrations. If you are going to be using a credit card to order this game, call 800-324-7774 or 410-628-0028. For check and money order registrations, please see the “UIII v1.2 Order Form” text file included in this archive. PlayMaker can also be contacted at:
orders@playmaker.com
playmaker@aol.com
When you receive your registration code, you will also receive your USER NAME. This is very important. When you select “Register…” from the Apple menu, you will be asked for your USER NAME and REGISTRATION CODE. Both must be exactly right in order for Ultima III to accept your registration code. Neither the USER NAME nor REGISTRATION CODE is sensitive to UPPER/lower case, only that all of the letters are correct. Registering this software means that you agree to and understand the License Agreement and Disclaimer below.
• License Agreement / Disclaimer
In its unregistered form, this software archive is freely distributable. The only requirement is that this software archive not be modified in any way.
LairWare reserves the right to make improvements in the product described in this document at any time and without notice.
This software and accompanying documentation are copyrighted. All rights are reserved. Once registered, no part of this documentation or the described software may be copied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without the prior written consent of LairWare.
LairWare is not responsible for any damage to the user’s computer system or any data on it, and in no event will LairWare be responsible to the user for any consequential, incidental, or indirect damages arising from the use of this software, even if LairWare has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitations may not apply to you. But you probably knew that already.
• Thank-Yous
Thanks to Richard Garriott (Lord British) for giving me permission to do this. Without his support, this program never would have seen the light of day.
… to Bill Wallace for putting Ken Arnold’s excellent music in MIDI format.
… to Frank Seide and Antoine Rossett for their MOD music playing libraries.
… to all the beta testers whose names appear deep on the dungeon walls.
… and to Hélène McNeill, my wife, for putting up with this project.
• Version Notes
Version 1.2:
∞ Fixed incompatibility with Thread Manager. Even for Macs that had no problem with TM :-\
Version 1.1:
∞ Fixed Exodus logo noise trash fade commonly experienced by AV Mac users.
∞ Fixed crashing that occurred on PowerPC Macs in opening “View” when music ends.
∞ Notifies about incompatibility with Thread Manager if present, on 68K Macs.
∞ Fixed other crashes.
∞ Added little actual moons to the Moons display.
∞ Nudged window down on 640x400 (PowerBook) Macs so you can mostly see the Moons display.
∞ Allow use of numeric keypad for movement.
∞ Fixed a typographic error that occurred when trying to ignite a torch when you are out of torches.
∞ Fixed combat so that when you throw a dagger, you don't have to re-equip another one.
Version 1.0:
∞ Initial release.
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ULTIMA and LORD BRITISH are trademarks of ORIGIN Systems, Inc.
